For the first eight years and four children of my marriage, I didn’t have a dryer. I did have a freestanding clothes dryer rack, though, and that’s what I used. It was simple, cheap, and it worked.
How did we do it? Well, the first thing was not being able to depend on an electric dryer, because we didn’t have one. I’m sure that during those winter days that were damp I would have used a dryer if I had one. (Especially when we had a child who didn’t stay dry during the nights, and that meant lots of sheets and blankets regularly needing to be laundered!) Necessity is the mother of invention, but it also means that we push ourselves to do good things that we might otherwised not be motivated to do – and hanging clothes outside to dry was one of those things for me.
The second thing that helped was being aware of the weather and what clean clothes each child had available. In the six months of sunny weather we were graced with, it wasn’t hard to wash clothes in the morning and have them dry an hour or so after hanging them up. But in the winter, when the rack came indoors on cloudy days, and even on sunny days the cold weather precluded quick drying, I needed to plan ahead to ensure that everyone had clean clothes when they needed them.
When we moved to Washington state, the house we rented had a washer and dryer, and it was easier to just use what was there instead of setting up any other system. And then we left the West coast, but didn’t really rethink the clothes drying issue enough to take action.
What has me musing about drying clothes in the sun today? After a very long time of wanting to get back to sun drying, my husband has put up a clothesline in the backyard for me. Today was the first time in years that I was able to hang clothes outside in an organized way. And I really enjoyed it – it’s one of those things that you can do, being present in the moment and feeling the pleasure of the outdoors while you do it. I enlisted my just turned six year old son (had a birthday on Sat.) to help – I held the clothes in place, he clipped the clothespins on.
About a year ago, I was looking into retractable clotheslines. The price made me hesitate, but it sounded like a great idea – pull it out when in use, unhook it so it retracts when not in use. But the reviews I read seemed lukewarm and I didn’t want to spend over $60 on junk. So this year I headed to the Home Depot and bought a length of clothesline about 200 feet long. It has been waiting for my husband to have time to put it up, but he finally was able to do it a few days ago. He affixed two by fours to the side of the house and the side of the garage, then strung the clothesline between it, back and forth several times. (He left the line too loose, out of good intentions, but that’s something he’s going to remedy for me tomorrow – the clothes were drooping quite low because there was so much slack in the lines. It did make it very easy for the six year old to help, though, because it was so easy for him to reach!)
I enjoy simplicity in life, and a clothesline is as simple as it gets! I also like knowing that with a very small amount of time, I can save money on electricity, reduce my energy consumption and dependence on outside energy suppliers, get a little exercise and enjoy the smell of freshly dried sun kissed clothes. Mmmm!
Avivah
